Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Good news/bad news: reports of looting at Children's Hospital were in error. However, Charity Hospital has no electricity or plumbing.

Otherwise, small bits of good news here and there--according to a local reporter down there, a number of areas in Kenner and Metairie are now dry, and earlier I saw footage of dry ground near the south terminus of the Ponchartrain Causeway--but heavy damage.

On the other hand, Lakeview is submerged. Footage today shows water up to the rooftops--you can walk directly from an airboat to the roof of a single story building. Canal Blvd. is still under water, which worries me--an acquaintence of mine, and a much better friend-of-a-friend, decided to ride out the storm. We're hoping for a positive word.

Myrtle Grove and Belle Chase, in Plaquemines Parish, are at least partly dry, but southward there were levee breaks, and the lower half of the parish is under water. Worse still, the area has a LOT of petro-chemical--large circular storage tanks were blown away in some places.

Slidell has some dry areas, but other parts are as badly flooded as St. Bernard Parish and the 9th Ward.

The Fair Grounds, which was partially submerged yesterday, is now under about what looks like four to five feet of water.

Gov. Blanco had harsh words for looters earlier--footage shows rampant looting of shops...only sporadic reports about any break-in's of private homes--hopefully these are just rumors--if I find anything else out, I'll pass it along. I did hear reports of armed gangs shooting at helicopters and rescue crews--ouch.

Just saw military vehicles in the Quarter--maybe Royal St? Unlike other areas, it looks mostly dry.

For obvious reasons, I've been mostly trying to focus on immediate news, but I'll make brief mention of a VERY good post from Billmon which takes a big picture look at some major contributing causes to the tragedy--TalkingPointsMemo and Juan Cole have also written excellent pieces.

More video is showing Superdome refugees--looks like they're on dry ground at the I-10/Causeway Blvd. area I mentioned earlier.

OK. additional video just in shows I-10 going downtown is partially submerged. In other words, it's dry in the west burbs--at least in a number of areas--but after the City Park exit you've got a lot of standing water both to the right and left...like around the Parish jail, the old Falstaff brewery, and, if I remember right, near or around where Rock 'n Bowl is at--can't tell the water depth from the shot, but I'll guess several feet.